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The 2011 edition of the Halifax Pop Explosion announced the first acts confirmed for the five-day festival in October. Among the 150 bands set to play include The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, The Thermals, Chad VanGaalen, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Titus Andronicus, JEFF the Brotherhood, Plants and Animals, Braids, Dan Mangan, Twin Shadow, PS I Love You, Timber Timbre and a little band close to The Wedge‘s heart called Fucked Up. Wristbands, Priority Passes and VIP Passes are all on sale now. (Via Halifax Pop Explosion)

Sub Pop has announced that it will release the new album by King Tuff, the side project of Kyle Thomas from Vermont’s Happy Birthday. The label writes that the band is “presently working on new tunes, which we expect to unleash to the world sometime in 2012.” Of course, Sub Pop also released Happy Birthday’s last album, Thank You, last year. (Via Sub Pop)

One of the big indie releases this month is the new album by Zach Condon, aka Beirut. Having wowed audiences in Toronto last week, fans can now stream The Rip Tide in its entirety. (Via NPR)

If you happened to pick up Porcelain Raft’s recent Gone Blind EP, well now you can download a free EP featuring remixes of those songs by artists such as Memory Tapes, Babe Rainbow, CFCF and Memoryhouse. (Via Acéphale)

And if you’re mourning the loss of Alexisonfire, you’ll probably be mourning the loss of Black Lungs now that singer/guitarist Wade MacNeil has reportedly taken the job as frontman for UK hardcore band Gallows. (Via Exclaim!)

Tags: alexisonfire, Beirut, Gallows, Halifax Pop Explosion, King Tuff, Porcelain Raft, Wade MacNeil

Posted on Monday, August 8th, 2011 at 11:00 am by Cam and is filed under Blog, News, The Wedge.

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